I’ve made the argument that it makes as much sense for the government to take over the food supply as it does Healthcare. Alas, we all knew that they’d eventually get to that too– and it looks like they are beginning to get to it with HR 2749, the ‘Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009′.
Our friends (and I use the word loosely) Waxman and Dingle have come up with legislation that typifies the sort of overreach and ominous tyranny indicative of all the legislation they are coming up with in congress now that they are the only party in power.
The one thing we know about the era of Obama is that every aspect of our lives will ultimately be under the tight control of the government whether we want it or not– and it’s all for our own good!
But don’t take my word for it. Natural News declares that this bill requires immediate opposition, a blogger at foodfreedom describes it as, “Totalitarian Control of the Food Supply,” a DailyKos diary calls it fascist (truly it doesn’t take much to be called fascist at DailyKos but I thought I’d throw it in there), and Stop socialism now says, “Fed Takeover Of All Food Production Almost Done!”
Some of the disconcerting and dire provisions within the bill include:
- HR 2749 will require the mandatory imposition of annual registration fees in the amount of $500 upon any “facility” that holds, processes, or manufactures food. Even though “farms” are exempt, the bill’s definition of “farm” is so scarcely defined that folks selling cheeses, breads, and other products from their farms or at the farmers market would be required to pay this fee, potentially driving many small producers and start-ups out of business, especially during tough times.
- HR 2749 will give FDA the power to directly regulate the methods by which crops are raised and harvested, essentially handing complete and total control of every farming operation to the federal government.
- HR 2749 will give FDA the power to halt the movement of all food in a particular geographic area in the event of a food contamination scare or outbreak. The provision directly includes “prohibiting or restricting the movement of food or of any vehicle being used or that has been used to transport or hold such food within the geographic area”, effectively shutting down any and all local food sources, farmers markets, or cooperatives within that area, even if their products have no connection to the actual contamination source.
- HR 2749 will give limitless power to FDA to conduct random searches of the business records of small farmers and local food providers without a warrant or even the slightest hint of evidence that there has been any sort of violation. It essentially allows clear passage by the federal government into the private records of its choice with no requirement of probable cause or legitimate reason for doing so.
- HR 2749 will appoint the Secretary of Health and Human Services as the taskmaster in establishing a food tracing system that will require an extensive, convoluted system of tracking each item and ingredient from origin to distribution. Because the bill fails to outline the logistical procedures for how this complex task will be accomplished and how it will be paid for, it once again hands an unprecedented amount of power over to the federal government to control and tax as it sees fit in order to accomplish whatever arbitrary requirements it wishes to inflict upon our farmers and food producers.
- HR 2749 imposes grievous criminal and civil penalties, including fines of up to $100,000 for each violation, per individual, and up to 10 years in prison. ~naturalnews.com
Who’s worried about the patriot act now? We are rapidly approaching the point where literally nothing will be exempt from the power of the government to directly control, dictate, punish, and intervene without warrant or respect to constitutional rights. It will be an administrative matter.